Prospects for WTO Negotiations on Services Domestic Regulation Disciplines

The article analyzes the impact of improved domestic regulation on international trade in services and other economic indicators. The countries tend to include provisions of domestic services regulations in regional trade agreements. The particular aspects of negotiations on domestic services regulation disciplines under the World Trade Organization (WTO) are considered. The difficulties of integrating the results of negotiations into the legal system of the Organization are revealed. It is justified that the peculiarity of the decision-making mechanism in the WTO - the requirement of consensus by all 164 members of the Organization - was one of the causes of the multilateral negotiations format crisis. The global economy and trade have faced an unprecedented challenge, viz. the spread of the coronavirus infection. The crisis was peculiar due to the countries’ decision to impose severe restrictions on the cross-border flow of goods, services and labour. Russian trade in services has also been hit by the coronavirus pandemic, even more than many other countries. The article notes the importance of disciplines on domestic regulations to increase exports of services and improve other fundamentals in Russia. The author concludes that regardless of the results and timing of the completion of negotiations on domestic services regulations, Russia should continue to reduce “technical” barriers to trade in services. Greater regulatory transparency would ensure stability and business environment sustainability, as well as improve the efficiency of the services sector and the economy as a whole.